Secretary of State John Kerry is meeting in Saudi Arabia with leaders from across the Middle East to discuss the threat posed by ISIS.

On Wednesday night, President Obama ordered airstrikes in Syria, an expansion of the bombing campaign in Iraq and nearly 500 more American troops to the region in the fight against the extremist group.

Lawmakers are expected today to consider the president’s request to give him the authority to arm, train and fund Syrian rebels.

• Pistorius murder charge rejected.

The judge in the trial of the South African track star Oscar Pistorius said the evidence did not support a charge of premeditated murder as she began reading her verdict today.

He could still be found guilty of manslaughter, which carries a minimum seven-year prison term, when the court reconvenes Friday.

• At ground zero.

A moment of silence was held at 8:46 a.m. Eastern, the time the first hijacked airliner crashed into the World Trade Center 13 years ago today.

Family members reciting the names of the victims also paused at 9:03, 9:37, 9:59, 10:03 and 10:28, the times of the subsequent plane crashes in Lower Manhattan, Pennsylvania and Washington, and the collapses of the twin towers.

President Obama, Vice President Joseph R. Biden and the first and second ladies held their moment of silence on the south lawn of the White House before attending a memorial event at the Pentagon.

• Fallout from the Ray Rice video.

The National Football League will open its records today to a former director of the F.B.I. investigating its handling of the star player who punched in the face his fiancée, who is now his wife, in February.

The Baltimore Ravens, Rice’s former team, host the Pittsburgh Steelers at 8:30 tonight in the premiere of “Thursday Night Football” on CBS.

• Another summit meeting.

A week after NATO leaders gathered to talk about the conflict in Ukraine, the leaders of Russia, China, and Central Asian states hold the annual meeting of the Shanghai Cooperation Organization.

The post-Soviet security group meets in Tajikistan for two days, focusing on the future of Afghanistan.

• New weight-loss pills.

An advisory committee to the F.D.A. will discuss another possible obesity drug today.

The third new prescription drug for obesity since 2012 was approved Wednesday.

• March of the separatists.

Hundreds of thousands of demonstrators gathered in Barcelona, Spain, today, the capital of the Catalonia region, in support of a referendum on independence.

Around the world, people are seeking their own referendums as the independence vote in Scotland nears.

But most of all he was beloved as the thrice-widowed patriarch Ben Cartwright in the long-running TV western “Bonanza.”

The son of Russian Jews who immigrated to Canada, he changed his name from Lyon Himan Green before becoming a news announcer during World War II.

These days, there aren’t a lot of Lornes, but then it was a popular name, thanks partly to Canada’s arts-driven governor general in the late 1800s, the marquess of Lorne.

“This accounts for Lorne streets in a number of Canadian cities, especially in Ontario, including one in Ottawa, Greene’s hometown,” says Lorne Slotnick, a labor arbitrator who has pondered the rise and fall of the name.

Lorne Greene’s prominence made the name even more attractive for a few decades — witness the Canadian-American who created “Saturday Night Live,” Lorne Michaels.